Spring 2008

Professor Groys

Thurs 6:20-8:20

G91.2106-001; G29.2106

Special Studies in Literary Movements: Hegel, Kojève & the End of History

The concept of the End of History as well as the notion of post-histoire were introduced by the Russian émigré philosopher Alexandre Kojève in his lectures on Hegel’s philosophy that he held in Paris before the World War Two. Afterwards the Kojèvian concept of the end of history made quite a carrier in the thinking of the 20th Century – especially as a precursor of the theoretical writing on the post-modernity. But it is often overlooked that Kojéve was influenced not only by Hegel or Heidegger but also by the Russian philosopher Vladimir Soloviev and his vision of the end of history. In the course I will discuss the genealogy of the notion of the end of history as well as the texts of Bataille, Foucault, Derrida and Agamben that are related to the Kojèvian thought.